Watched this beauty at our favourite watering hole but with no sound, so I didn't get a good sense of the crowd. Obviously a packed house, but from what I could tell it didn't seem as much pro-Gonzaga as I've seen in recent years - any thoughts here? (the student section looked unreal - there was crowd surfing at one point)

DeanMurdoch wrote:Watched this beauty at our favourite watering hole but with no sound, so I didn't get a good sense of the crowd. Obviously a packed house, but from what I could tell it didn't seem as much pro-Gonzaga as I've seen in recent years - any thoughts here? (the student section looked unreal - there was crowd surfing at one point)

I would have called it about 50/50 crowd split. The GU fans weren't as vocal as in past years - even at the start. For example, the students started a "Let's Go Pilots" chant shortly after tip-off and, to my surprise, they weren't drowned out by a competing "Let's Go Zags" chant. Perhaps that was a sign of good things to come.

We've had lots of great wins over ranked teams between 1996 and now, but this one was a bit different. Lots of pent up frustration was released. I think the UP fans tolerate our gym being 50/50 with Zag fans for these games very well, but it gets my goat every time I have to hear cheering when the buzzer sounds and the Pilots lose. Especially when jerks like Rob Sacre (I'll never forgive him for this) stomp on our logo, taunt fans, pop jerseys, and generally disrespect the Pilots and our fans multiple years in a row.

So yes, this felt freaking great. And it meant a lot to the fans too... the amount of stuff being posted on social media was incredible. FOUR different things relating to this game were trending on Twitter in Portland, and my Facebook was completely overwhelmed with posts from alumni... I'm not even exaggerating, I bet there were close to 100 different posts from my friends after the game, not to mention all the text messages I got.

Yes, it's one game and I don't want to make too big a deal of it, but the last time I saw this sort of explosion of pride in the Pilots was that tournament in Anaheim a few years ago when we blew UCLA out of the water and then beat a ranked Minnesota team, which resulted in us getting ranked AP poll for the first time in 50 years.

Just a reminder of the power our basketball team has in getting alumni engaged with the school and in feeling proud of their alma mater.

bdaddy wrote:I have a personal account related to last night’s game. It is a bit wordy but I am hoping you will humor me by allowing me to share.

My dad has been taking me to Pilot basketball games since 1998 when I was 10 years old. It started as a way for us to hang out while also watching some good local basketball. At first we would make it to a few games a year. As our pilot fandom grew we eventually became season ticket holders. I remember being impressed at how enthusiastically my dad would root for the Pilots even against his alma mater, the Gonzaga Bulldogs.

When it became time for me to select a college, I eventually settled on the University of Portland. The fond memories of attending those Pilot basketball games probably had more to do with this selection than even I would like to admit. I graduated from UP in 2010. Soon after, my wife joined my dad and I as season ticket holders and the tradition continued.

We learned earlier this year that my dad was diagnosed with stage 3 throat cancer. He is currently more than halfway through a 6 week chemo/radiation regiment. He has responded remarkably well to the treatment and has a very positive outlook despite the advanced stage of his cancer.

You could see why I wasn’t expecting much when I called my dad earlier this week to ask him if he was going to be feeling up for the Pilot/Zag game on Thursday night. I was pleasantly surprised by his reply.

“Hell yeah son! I wouldn’t miss it!”

I share all that with you so you have the background to understand what I mean when I say this.

I have a lot of great memories of going to Pilot basketball games with my dad. That game last night has immediately become my favorite. I feel so blessed and thankful to have been able to share that with him and I will never forget it.

GO PILOTS!

bdaddy, some of my fondest childhood memories are also going to the local college basketball games with my father so I feel like I can at least partially relate to how special of an experience that can be. You have my prayers and best wishes that you and your father can enjoy many more Pilot victories over the Zags together!

When the final buzzer sounded on Portland's 82-73 win over visiting Gonzaga last night, the ESPNU cameras kept rolling. After all, they had to document the Portland students rushing the court. On and on they came, until at least half the floor was covered in a celebration. There were smiles, there was jumping, there was a party. The Pilots had done something no other University of Portland team had done in more than a decade. Heck in this century. They had defeated the hated Gonzaga Bulldogs at home.

(As an aside, the cameras happened to catch something I really love about college athletics. In the midst of the scrum on the floor, one of the Portland players shared his happiness with a guy from the stands. The player had high-fived his teammates, sure, but his conversation with a student at least 6-inches shorter than him showed they were good friends. The joy of two friends sharing something special was easy to see. Sometimes we forget college athletes are students too and their circle of buddies extends beyond the athletic department.)

Mark Few wrote:"They were flying around and beating us to pretty much every ball that was available," Bulldogs coach Mark Few said. "I thought they outplayed us on offense and they outplayed us on the defensive end. We didn't execute very well until there at the end and they deserve a lot of credit.

WOW WOW WOW was Bryce Pressley good. I think I got too caught up in the euphoria and excitement to appreciate what he did. He was incredible, from start to finish.

Especially great was a stretch midway through the second half... UP is up by 11, and Bryce gets a steal in the paint and sends a beautiful loooong pass, hitting Korey in stride for a big dunk. Gonzaga gets two back, then Bryce responds with a three. On the next possession, he blocks a shot, gets possession, and then gets an assist to Bobby for a three. Boom. Pilots up by 17 and the game is effectively over.

It was a beautiful thing to watch.

Last edited by Stonehouse on Sat Jan 11, 2014 12:22 pm; edited 1 time in total

WOW WOW WOW was Bryce Pressley good. I think I got too caught up in the euphoria and excitement to appreciate what he did. He was incredible, from start to finish.

Especially great was a stretch midway through the second half... UP is up by 11, and Bryce gets a steal in the paint and sends a beautiful loooong pass, hitting Korey in stride for a big dunk. Gonzaga gets two back, then Bryce responds with a three. On the next possession, he blocks a shot, gets possession, and then Bobby hits a three. Boom. Pilots up by 17 and the game is effectively over.

It was a beautiful thing to watch.

Tell in' ya. If he doesn't get Player of the Week, I want to se the performance of the guy who does.

DeanMurdoch wrote:Such a great game to watch. Can't remember if it was Sharp's three from the parking lot or Bailey's and-one putback off his own miss that moved me into "holy crap, they're gonna win this" mode but either way, what a win for the guys.

I'll be the first to say it - Reveno outcoached Few tonight. I think the Pilots came in with a game plan that they hadn't seen yet - namely, playing off Stockton and letting him shoot should he choose to take it - and couple that with the players executing and working their ASSES off put this in the win column. Can't say enough good things about the 9 guys that got in tonight.

Just watching the replay. According to the announcer, Bobby's shot wasn't from the parking lot. It wasn't even from Franz Hall. It was from Vancouver ( Blvd?, BC?)

The most impressive thing to me about the GU game was the Pilots' ability to maintain the lead at the end of the first half when Bailey went to the bench with 2 fouls. We were in a similar situation against Saint Mary's, and when Bailey went out with foul trouble we couldn't get anything going on offense. Bailey spent a lot of minutes on the bench against Gonzaga, and we kept the offense rolling!

Stonehouse wrote:FOUR different things relating to this game were trending on Twitter in Portland, and my Facebook was completely overwhelmed with posts from alumni... I'm not even exaggerating, I bet there were close to 100 different posts from my friends after the game, not to mention all the text messages I got...............

.................... Just a reminder of the power our basketball team has in getting alumni engaged with the school and in feeling proud of their alma mater.

Thought about you and your buddies as this was all going down. I've always maintained that there is no shame .... ever .... in losing. Particularly losing to a better team. And that's what happened on Thursday .... the better team won.

Doesn't mean I enjoyed any of it (I didn't) .... but I certainly respected (and appreciated) what happened to my guys at Chiles.

I'm just grateful that the Zags didn't parlay the "Portland" week bye in to a cross country Saturday night ESPN game to further complicate their week. Not having a game last night was good for Zag fans (i.e. able to fully enjoy the big Seahawks win).

GoZags

PS .... re: Coach Reveno. He IS well liked and well respected .... by Zag fans and, I believe .... around the league. That respect wouldn't diminish if Portland continued to beat Gonzaga more frequently. At least that's my opinion.

DeanMurdoch wrote:Following the "water under the bridge" strategy DTLegend talked about in his blog -

• 8 wins will give a team a decent chance to avoid Day 1 of the conference tournament (that's .500 basketball the rest of the way)• Considering opposition, 3-2 over the remaining five home games is a good goal• There's four trips to California upcoming. If they can split each of those roadies, there's a 4-5 road record and 8-10 overall• If the Pilots are feeling real ambitious and want to end up with nine wins, that will essentially seal a top-six finish and could very well get them into the 4/5 game

So yeah, there's your glimmer of hope for today - despite the start, it's not even close to an insurmountable task to get back into the thick of things. Tonight would be as good a time as any to get this thing rolling!

Looking ahead at all the ROAD games yet to be played, it’s going to be tough for UP to attain the all-important 6th place….but certainly not impossible if the Pilots can play with the same intensity they displayed against GU last Thursday.